ABSTRACT
The legacy of classical social thought is indeed evident in Natalie’s life, in how she lives her life and thinks about her personal identity and the wider society, in many ways. In this chapter, the authors will thus turn their attention to the contemporary relevance of classical social theory. Social life is often described as both freedom and constraint, or possibility and limitation. The contemporary era is one dominated by speed. Fast production, fast consumption, fast credit, fast relationships and fast travel are just some of the key areas of life dominated by the principle of ever-advancing social acceleration. One of the more interesting paradoxes about modern societies is how the search for individualism and personal freedom intersects with, and routinely dislodges, the expectations and obligations of moral bonds. Few topics can be as painful to contemplate as the strategies of avoidance the people use to shield ourselves from administered atrocities – torture, political massacres, genocides.
